Beating the heat in historical Tsuchiura City
This week, we wanted to get out of town, beat the heat and humidity of 梅雨, “tsuyu”, the rainy season, and see a little more of the beauty of Chibaraki, the region that spans 埼玉県, Saitama, 千葉県, Chiba, and 茨城県 Ibaraki Prefectures.
Today’s adventure took us a mere 30 minutes up t常磐線, the Joban Line to 土浦市, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture. These days, you can drive National Route 6 from Tokyo to Mito, or ride the Joban Line. In the old days, following much the same terrain, was the 水戸海道, Mito Kaido, the route that was punctuated by 宿場, shukuba, post stations, that were promoted by the Edo government to encourage trade from the capital to the provinces. Today, Route 6 cuts through Matsudo and Kashiwa cities in the form of a two-lane road. Where the road passes through Tsuchiura City, it becomes a shopping street with classic 蔵, kura, the merchant store houses that were a common sight in the Edo Period.
We walked about 10 minutes from the west exit of Tsuchiura City to Nakajo Avenue, the row of Edo era buildings along the route to Mito. Amongst the buildings are an old liquor shop, merchant storehouse known as 「大徳」, “Daitoku” and little shrines and temples that line the way to the castle.
Tsuchiura’s castle is popularly known as 亀城, Kijo, or Turtle Castle. This fortification rests on flat land, which necessitated a “water castle” defense with moats and canals. Within the castle compound stood samurai and merchant houses. In the Meiji Period, the castle compound contained offices of the city and prefecture. Today, only the inner moat, a few small canals, and the Yagura Gate and some smaller gates remain of this great castle town.
We also saw some poor monkeys languishing in the heat and humidity, housed in cages just north of the Honmaru, the innermost part of the castle. The trickle of water from the castle’s well, the ponds and fountains and the moat populated with fish and turtles were a great relief from the heat. The monkeys flopped out on the concrete and stared at us upside down.
We wandered about to 神龍時 Kanryuji?, the temple to the north of the castle, and to a few other smaller ones. The breeze was a relief, as was the splash of water in the fountains and waterways that were once part of the water castle’s defenses.
Just past the temple, we also found the Tsukuba Rin Rin Road, the former rail line that is now a 40 kilometer bike path. You can read more about it in this Alien Times article. I’ll attempt it once I get a bag for my mountain bike. Bikes are welcome on the Joban Line, but the front wheel must be removed (to turn the handle bars) and bagged. I haven’t done it for some time, but train some train conductors will make you buy a basic fare for your bike, while others will just wave you through.
Another way to keep cool in Tsuchiura City is to get out on the lake and watch the 帆引き船, hobikisen, the unique kite-like boats that were invented in the 1880s for pulling fish nets. You can see demonstrations of hobikisen a few times in the summer and again in the autumn.
For dinner, we picked up a box of ツェッペリンカレーZeppelin Curry. This popular and tasty pork curry, which includes the local produce, lotus root, was made to commemorate the 1929 visit of the Graf Zeppelin to Tsuchiura City. On a summer day, the bulk of the Zeppelin hove into view over Tsuchiura and startled those who hadn’t heard the radio or read the newspaper. The Zeppelin stayed for a few days before crossing the Pacific to the US.
